News Archives
September, 2014

‘EYN is severely damaged’ reports Nigerian Brethren church president Samuel Dali. Global Mission and Service and Brethren Disaster Ministries this week have received new reports from Samuel Dali, president of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).
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Cori Hahn has tendered her resignation as hospitality coordinator at the Zigler Hospitality Center, located at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. Her last day at the hospitality center will be Nov. 14.
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In a week when US President Barack Obama has announced new air strikes on Islamic State in Syria by a coalition of the US military and several Arab nations, Church of the Brethren general secretary Stan Noffsinger and the denomination’s Office of Public Witness have reiterated a commitment to nonviolent means of change in Syria and Iraq.
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In this issue: Correction, personnel notes, position openings in Congregational Life and Material Resources, BVS orientation, invitation to a teleconference on just peace in Palestine and Israel, new posts on the Brethren Blog, a breakfast for Heifer’s 70th, district and camp celebrations, Bittersweet Gospel Band tour, and more. Read more »

Brethren Disaster Ministries is directing a grant of $100,000 to provide for the basic needs of displaced Nigerians and other needs in Nigeria, where members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) as well as families of EYN denominational staff are among the thousands of people who have fled violence.
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Global Mission and Service executive director Jay Wittmeyer spent several days visiting the fledgling Brethren group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), returning on Sept. 18. Wittmeyer flew into Bujumbura, Burundi, and then traveled overland into the Congo, first to Uvira in South Kivu and then south to Fizi and Ngovi.
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Over the past couple of weeks, leaders and staff of Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) have shared about the hardships faced by Brethren and others fleeing the violence in northeast Nigeria, and the struggle of EYN and its leadership in the midst of the crisis. The news has come through reports to Church of the Brethren staff in the US, and piecemeal through brief e-mails, calls, texts, and Facebook posts.
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“Telling the Truth and Shaming the Devil: A Postcolonial Take on Urban Mission in the 21st Century,” is the title of an Oct. 9 webinar jointly sponsored by the Church of the Brethren, Baptist Mission Society, Baptists Together, Bristol Baptist College, and Urban Expression UK.
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Church of the Brethren congregations and other groups in many different communities are planning worship services, witnesses, prayer vigils, and even theater performances to celebrate the International Day of Prayer for Peace on Sunday, Sept. 21. A Peace Day campaign by On Earth Peace helps connect the Church of the Brethren and others to the annual event, offers resources, and collects an online listing of events and groups that are participating. Here are just a few of the Peace Day events in the works: Read more »

NEWS: 1) Peace Day events are planned by Church of the Brethren and other groups
2) Praying and worshiping in the spirit of Pentecost on Peace Day
3) Speakers, worship, and music leadership announced for 2015 Annual Conference
4) Nigerian Christians say ‘We are on the run’: An interview with EYN president Samuel Dali
5) Haiti Medical Project attains 30-month milestone, Lancaster church raises more than $100,000, Brethren World Mission continues support
6) Annual BRF unit of Brethren Volunteer Service begins a year of service
7) Bethany Seminary engages youth in thinking about faith and call
8) Life goes on under a shadow in Iraqi Kurdistan
FEATURE: 9) Laminating with a BA: Learning how to make a life in Brethren Volunteer Service
10) Brethren bits Read more »

It was Thursday morning, four days into my first week at Highland Park Elementary School, and I was sitting on the floor in the office cutting out still more newly laminated classroom decorations for the teachers. The principal turned to me and said, “After you’re done with that, I have a terribly mundane and tedious job for you.”
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The preachers and the worship and music leadership for next year’s Church of the Brethren Annual Conference has been announced by the Conference Office. The 2015 Conference will return to a Saturday-through-Wednesday schedule on July 11-15, in Tampa, Fla. Moderator David Steele will lead the Conference on the theme “Abide in My Love...and Bear Fruit” (John 15:9-17). Find his reflection on the theme at www.brethren.org/ac/2015/theme.html .
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The Haiti Medical Project attained a 30-month milestone this summer in June, reports Dale Minnich who serves as a volunteer fundraiser for the project. Also this summer, Lancaster (Pa.) Church of the Brethren surpassed its fundraising goal of $100,000 to raise an actual amount of $103,700, reported by Lancaster member Otto Schaudel.
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The annual Brethren Revival Fellowship unit of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) has completed orientation and begun a year of volunteer service. All of the members of the unit are serving at the same project site, the Root Cellar in Lewiston, Maine, where one volunteer also will do work connected with the neighborhood around Horton Street House.
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The annual Mission Offering to support Church of the Brethren mission around the world is focused on the theme “Praise: Overflow with Love,” with the suggested date of Sunday, Sept. 21. Visit www.brethren.org/missionoffering for related worship resources or to give now.
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The 8th Annual Family Peace Camp in Atlantic Southeast District was held at Ithiel Camp and Retreat Center in central Florida on Aug. 29-31. The theme for the event, which was held just a few miles from Disney World, was “Living in the Magic Kin-dom.”
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In scattered reports received piecemeal by e-mail, text, and Facebook since the weekend, it appears that most if not all the denominational staff of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and their families have left the EYN headquarters as Boko Haram insurgents advance on the area.
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A grant of $2,500 from the Church of the Brethren Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) is supporting the participation by Brethren and those with Brethren connections at a development symposium in East Africa. A grant of $3,000 has been given from the fund to help install a clean water system at the headquarters of the Cuban Council of Churches.
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Prayer is requested for the students and staff of Kulp Bible College (KBC), and the leadership of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), as the decision has been made to temporarily close the college. Students will be leaving for other areas of the country, and headquarters staff also may be making ready to leave as Boko Haram forces advance to within 50 kilometers of the EYN headquarters.
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New resources from Brethren Press include “Awake: Devotions for Advent Through Epiphany,” the 2014 Advent devotional written by Sandy Bosserman; the fall 2014 quarter of “A Guide for Biblical Studies” on the theme Sustaining Hope written by Larry M. Dentler, Ken Gibble, and Frank Ramirez; and a series of Bible studies for youth as part of an update of the Generation Why curriculum. More information about each resource follows; order online at www.brethrenpress.com or from Brethren Press customer service at 800-441-3712.
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The summer unit of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) completed orientation on Aug. 8 at Camp Mardela on the eastern shore of Maryland. The group of 12 volunteers is the 305th unit of BVS. Following are the names of the volunteers, their home congregations or home towns, and project placements:
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The Powerhouse regional youth conference has reached its fifth anniversary! Powerhouse will return to Camp Mack near Milford, Ind., on Nov. 15-16, providing a weekend of worship, workshops, music, recreation, and more for senior high youth in the Midwest and their advisors.
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“Pray and resist!” That was the message from Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Northern Ireland Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1976, at the Aug. 1 opening ceremony of the Centennial of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). The centennial celebration was held in Konstanz, Germany, on Aug. 1-3.
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A Faith Forum on Middle East Policy and the World Council of Churches (WCC) have issued statements on the violence occurring in Iraq. Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the Church of the Brethren, was one of the American church leaders to sign a letter to US President Barack Obama organized by the Faith Forum, that urged alternatives to US military action in Iraq. Read more »